What if the ocean catches fire? The revolt of impossible things – 07/12/2023 – Jorge Abrahão

Chico Buarque’s lyrics for the song “E se” talk about supposedly impossible things to happen in football, in nature, in the routine of life and in relationships.

By provoking, with our way of life, the pollution of the air and the seas, the deforestation of the forests, the melting of the glaciers and the rise in the level of the oceans, hunger in billions and inequality in billions, we are making happen what also seemed impossible: the imbalance of the planet, endangering human life on Earth.

At UN meetings, such as the High Level Political Panel (HLPF), which began this Monday (10th) and will end on the 19th, it is debated whether it is still possible to reverse this critical situation. And how to act, if the reversal is still feasible. At the meeting, which brings together 193 countries at the UN headquarters in New York, it is debated whether we are able to face the challenges of the world summarized in the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

The HLPF meeting always takes place in July and is a monitoring panel of commitments made by countries in 2015, which proposed to make the transition to a sustainable development model by 2030, in 15 years, therefore. The goals are ambitious, but achievable, and propose to eradicate poverty, end hunger, promote quality health and education for all, gender equity, tackle climate change and promote a culture of peace, among others. At these meetings, countries present their Voluntary National Reports, showing what they have done to advance certain SDGs, in addition to exchanging experiences and sharing good practices, renewing commitments or redirecting actions.

The importance of this year’s meeting is related to the fact that we are right in the middle of the 2030 Agenda. It is fundamental to take stock of the path taken so far to determine the challenges for the next seven years. The data show that we walk much less than was planned. During this period, poverty and hunger increased rather than decreased; inequalities between countries and within countries, too; greenhouse gas emissions grew; the risk to democracy has increased with the rise of the extreme right, not to mention artificial intelligence and its exponential ability to manipulate people, with great potential for damage to the democratic system.

Brazil registered a “side event” in the HLPF which aims to announce its return to the 2030 Agenda, after four years of denial. There is a great interest in the UN in what Brazil has to say at this moment. By committing to the end of deforestation, protecting the Yanomami, consolidating the Bolsa Familia, guaranteeing a real increase in the minimum wage and forwarding a progressive tax reform, among other matters, the country’s policies are aligned with the SDGs. All these advances, however, could be shaken if oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River and mining in the Amazon are authorized. The Amazon must be considered an ecological sanctuary and, as such, kept at a distance from the logic of global markets, thirsty for commodities. Its value, in the broadest sense of the term, is related to its ability to maintain itself as a unique area of ​​biodiversity on the planet.

The creation of the National Commission on Sustainable Development Goals (CNODS) is an important step towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil. The Commission, which is in the process of being reconstructed after being extinguished by the Bolsonaro government in 2019, will be responsible for articulating the different spheres of government, civil society and companies to advance in the commitments assumed when the Agenda 2030 was signed.

The truth is that, if it is not based on affection, the great values ​​that mobilize life, solidarity, empathy and alterity, it will be difficult for us to advance globally. It is this dimension of life that we need to activate, since, on the basis of “economic” reason, we are ending the world.

The script for Chico Buarque’s brilliant lyrics to Francis Hime’s music was tailored to get to what matters in life: affections. The final verse, which reveals everything, is: “And if my love likes me, then”. Announcing the impossibility of that love was the great motivation of the song.

Collectively it is no different. If we don’t break boundaries, if we don’t see ourselves as a whole, if we don’t see ourselves as just a small part of life, if we are not guided to leave something better for future generations, there will be no way out.

But as long as we have the ability to dream, as Chico dreams, there is hope.

And if our love likes us then.

It will be possible?

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